


I Hope That I Have Changed Your Whole World, Too

by mymidsummersunshine



Series: Cat AU [2]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Cats, M/M, Weddings, Winter Wonderland
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:47:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27671558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mymidsummersunshine/pseuds/mymidsummersunshine
Summary: Matt and Anders get married. A sequel to I'll Give You My Heart (I Hope It'll Do)
Relationships: Anders Bjork/Matt Grzelcyk
Series: Cat AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1737166
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	I Hope That I Have Changed Your Whole World, Too

**Author's Note:**

> The cat AU wedding fic is here! This is a sequel, and probably doesn't make sense without the first part so I would recommend reading the first work in this series first if you haven't (or if you want a refresher lol)
> 
> Title from Everything Has Changed by Heffron Drive, which is also the song for their first dance!

The rest of Christmas Day is pretty quiet, spent mostly cuddling on the couch with the fireplace on and admiring their rings, and getting Tiny to play with his new toys. They do FaceTime Anders’ family later in the afternoon, and when they tell them what happened, the looks on all their faces cause them to laugh out loud. They knew Anders was going to propose to Matt, but they didn’t know it was also going to happen the other way around. Telling Matt’s family a few days later goes about the same, and as much as Matt doesn’t like being the center of attention when it comes to these types of things, he does have to admit there’s something about the whole situation that makes it worth it to tell the story again and again. 

On New Year’s Eve they go to Jake and Charlie’s apartment for a little party they hold every year, and of course, they don’t even get through the door before they’re questioned.

“So?” Jake asks when he opens the door, without even saying hello. 

Matt sighs, but smiles and holds up his hand, and Anders lets go of his other hand to do the same. Jake cheers.

“Yes! Aw, man, I’m so happy for you guys!” he yells, loud enough that Matt hopes none of their neighbors care. “You’ve gotta tell us the whole story!”

“Can we come in first?” Anders laughs.

“Oh, yeah, here, sorry.” He moves out of the way to let them in, then shuts the door behind them and takes their coats. Charlie appears in the hallway on his way from the kitchen to the living room, but he stops when he sees them.

“Oh, hey guys,” he says. “Congrats!”

“Thanks!”

Jake looks offended. “Wait, they told you already?”

“No, I just heard you just now. You’re not that quiet, babe.”

The three of them follow Charlie into the living room, where a couple of their other friends are already waiting.

“What are we congratulating you on?” Brandon asks.

Matt looks up at Anders to answer.

“We’re engaged,” he says, squeezing Matt’s hand.

Everyone cheers, but then the questions start flooding in. Matt hadn’t realized how little everyone else knew, especially with how much Jake and Charlie were involved with the whole process.

“Oh my god, really?!”

“Congratulations!”

“I’m so happy for you guys!”

“Who proposed?” Brandon asks, and Matt laughs.

“Well, it’s kind of a funny story,” he tells them.

They recount the story for everyone, of Anders waiting for Matt to go to sleep before tying the ring to Tiny’s collar, Matt waking up early to hide his in Anders’ stocking, and the realization when they both figured out what had happened. When they’re finished, everyone laughs, then congratulates them again.

“You guys are definitely soulmates,” Jake says. “I’m so glad I got to be a part of this.”

“Yeah, actually, I wanted to ask you about that,” Matt says. “How the hell did you keep it a secret for so long?”

“Hey, I know how to keep a secret when it’s important!”

Whether or not that’s true, the conversation shifts on. They continue to eat and drink and catch up, and they all watch the hockey game as the Bruins lose yet another New Year’s Eve tilt. At 11:30 they change the channel to watch the ball drop, and Charlie gets them all their hats and noisemakers for when midnight hits.

Matt feels Anders squeeze his hand as they start the countdown from twenty seconds. He looks up at him, then giggles as he rests his head on his shoulder. He’s a little tipsy from the champagne he’s been drinking, not quite drunk but enough that Anders will probably have to drive them home, which he thinks is fair since he was the designated driver at Christmas Eve. When the clock strikes twelve, Anders wraps his arms around him and pulls him in for the kiss.

It’s a little awkward, Anders’ hat slides forward and hits Matt in the forehead and Matt is still holding his champagne glass, but it’s the best way Matt could possibly imagine starting the new year. He smiles up at him when they do have to break apart in order to breathe, taking the moment to get lost in his gaze. It’s a feeling he still hasn’t quite gotten used to, and now, with forever ahead of him, he’s not sure he wants to. It still takes his breath away just as much as the first time.

“Happy new year, my love,” Anders whispers.

“It really is,” Matt says, before he leans up to kiss him again.

—

A few weeks later, they’re eating breakfast at the kitchen table, when Anders speaks up.

“Hey, before I forget, what season were you thinking?” he asks after he takes a sip of coffee.

Matt looks up at him. “Hmm?”

“For the wedding,” he clarifies. “I personally like fall, but I want your input, too. It’s not just _my_ wedding.”

“Oh. Uhh...” he trails off. He doesn’t feel like he’s awake enough to make any big decisions like this. “I haven’t really thought about it yet,” he says. “Honestly I kind of forgot we need to plan this and make all the decisions ourselves.”

Anders laughs. “Fair enough. I was just thinking picking a season first would at least make some of the other decisions easier. Like colors and flowers and stuff.”

“No, no, that makes sense. You like fall, you said?”

“Yeah, I love the colors, plus it’s a little less common, you know? But we could make any season work. Spring is, like, pastels and all that, but you get really bad allergies, so maybe not. Plus, spring weddings are overdone. Summer you get beaches and stuff for inspiration, and fresh fruit in the cake, but if it’s _too_ hot then it might be miserable.”

“Air conditioning? Indoors?” Matt suggests.

“I guess, but what’s the point of a summer wedding if you can’t enjoy the beautiful weather outside?”

“True.”

“Anyway, fall is usually pretty nice weather-wise, plus the leaves on the trees would be beautiful, we could use those as our colors, but I’m always super busy in the fall at work, so that would be the only downside from what I can see, I would need to get the time off. And of course, winter wonderland, Christmas time already has all the love and magic energy built in, but there’s a good chance it could get snowed out. And if people have to travel, which my family would, they might get stuck somewhere, so it’s definitely a risk. But yeah,” he finishes with a shrug.

That’s a lot of information, and Matt’s already overwhelmed. But Anders has clearly put a lot of thought into this.

“What if we just eloped?” he says, half joking.

Anders nearly chokes on his coffee, then throws his head back in laughter. “Oh, man, could you imagine?” he says. “Also, we already told everyone we’re engaged, it wouldn’t really be eloping.”

“It would be if we never tell them when the wedding is.”

“I don’t think my mom would forgive me for that, love. Plus, I already asked my brother to be my best man, and he said yes, so I can’t really go back on that promise now, sorry.” His tone is serious, but he’s still smiling.

“Yeah, I know.” Matt sinks back down into his chair, both hands around his coffee mug. Anders reaches across the table to grab his hand.

“Hey,” he whispers, and Matt looks up. “It’s okay. We don’t need to make any decisions right now, I just wanted to throw some ideas out there. But when we do, we’ll figure it out, together.”

Matt smiles. “Right. Together.”

They finish up breakfast and both head into work. Matt intends on staying focused and getting things done, he really does, but now that he’s a little more awake, all he can think about is the wedding. That night when they’re eating dinner, Matt brings it up again.

“So I was thinking about what season we should do,” he starts.

“Oh?” Anders asks, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah. I think... I really like the idea of a winter wonderland theme. You were right, it has all the holiday magic already there. And it was Christmas Day when we proposed, so it ties into that, too. But I also like fall if you still want to do that, especially in New England the colors on the leaves are gorgeous.”

“Wait, oh my god, the proposals, yes!” Anders accidentally drops his fork onto his plate, and it clatters loudly, causing Tiny to run out from under the table. Matt didn’t even know he was there. “Sorry, buddy. Anyway, yeah, actually, I love that, keeping it all the same theme. I think we should do that.”

“Yeah? You don’t still want fall?”

“Nah, I like your idea better.”

“Alright, then, one decision down,” Matt says. “Only... thousands more to go.”

Anders grins at him. “We’ll get there. This is definitely a good starting point.”

—

A few days later, Matt brings up the next decision he’s been thinking about.

“So, I was thinking,” he starts, and Anders looks up at him.

“Hmm?”

“We should probably think about the wedding party. You said your brother is gonna be your best man?”

“Yeah, I already asked him and he said yes. Who were you thinking of for yours?”

Matt leans back into the couch cushions. “Honestly, I was thinking about asking Jake. He’s one of our best friends, and he was a big part of the proposal process, you know? For both of us.”

“Oh, yeah, I think that’s great! He definitely deserves the honor.”

“Alright, I'll see what he says. Who else do we need? What about the ring bearer, do we know anyone with kids?”

“Not sure.” Tiny walks over to Anders and headbutts his hand, and Anders starts scratching his chin. Suddenly something clicks in Matt’s head.

“Okay, I have an idea,” he starts, “but it might be a little crazy out there.”

Anders looks up at him. “You know I like crazy out there,” he says.

Matt gestures to Tiny. “What if he was?”

“Tiny?” Anders looks back down at him as he continues to scratch his chin, which causes Tiny to squint his eyes happily, and thinks about it for a minute before answering. “I love that, actually,” he says eventually.

“Yeah? You don’t think it’s too weird of an idea?”

“No way, I think it’s perfect! You wanna be in our wedding, buddy?” Tiny just crawls into Anders’ lap and sits down. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Matt smiles at the two of them. “He’s gonna do such a good job, I know it,” he says.

“I know. We should get him a little suit, he’s gonna look so adorable!”

“Do we even need to? I mean, he’s already a tuxedo cat,” Matt points out, but Anders frowns.

“I don’t want him to be naked!”

Matt blinks. “He’s a cat, he’s always naked. Plus, do you really think he’ll let us put a suit on him? He hated the Halloween costume we tried out last year.”

“Okay, that’s true. But he should at least get a little bow tie.”

Matt laughs. “Alright, yeah, he should definitely get a bow tie to match ours. And he’ll need something to actually hold the rings.”

“Oh, yeah. We can get a pouch or something to tie to his collar.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

—

Matt gets home from work one day to find Anders sitting on the couch with headphones on, eyes closed, either asleep or just lost in thought. He doesn’t want to scare him, so he crosses the room into their bedroom to change out of his work clothes, then waits in the doorway once he’s done. Anders opens his eyes after a minute and smiles up at him.

“Hey,” he says as he opens his arms for Matt to sit next to him, still smiling. “How was your day?”

“It was good. What was that you were listening to?”

Anders hands him the headphones. “Tell me what you think.” Once he has them on, he clicks play on the song.

Matt’s gone from the moment it starts. 

He closes his eyes to take it in fully, and his imagination leads him into a daydream where he’s dancing with Anders, alone in a large ballroom, a single spotlight following them as they gracefully twirl around the room, laughing and falling even more in love through the whole process. 

The song ends, but Matt doesn’t move yet, still lost in his imagination. He finally opens his eyes when Anders takes the headphones off for him and looks up at him.

“So?” Anders asks.

“It’s beautiful,” Matt says. “Please tell me you were showing that to me to be our first dance.”

“I was, I’m so glad you agree.” He leans down to kiss Matt’s lips. “Do you want to practice?” he asks when he pulls back.

Matt nods. “Yeah.”

They both stand up, and Anders hooks his phone into the speakers before playing the song again. He meets Matt in the middle of the room, wrapping one arm around his shoulder and taking his other hand, and Matt is immediately taken back into his daydream. It’s not exactly the same, they’re in their living room instead of a fancy ballroom, and Anders is wearing Spider-Man pajamas instead of a tux, but it’s still just as romantic as he could have hoped for. He finds that he can’t stop smiling, which of course, Anders notices.

“You look so happy,” he whispers.

“I am.”

“I am, too.”

Matt lowers his head onto Anders’ shoulder, and Anders wraps both arms around him. They’re not really dancing anymore, barely even rocking back and forth, but even as the song ends, he doesn’t want to leave his embrace, so they stay for a little while longer, with Anders rubbing his hand up and down his back. He does have to move when Tiny pokes the back of his leg, meowing and wondering why he hasn’t been fed his dinner yet, so he reluctantly lets go of Anders so he can go feed him. He gives Tiny a few scratches behind his ears as he eats before going back into the living room.

“Where’d you find the song?” Matt asks once they’re settled back on the couch.

“Charlie sent it to me, he said it reminded him of us.”

“I’ll definitely have to thank him later.”

—

The rest of the decisions and details fall quickly into place. They book the hotel and the catering and the DJ, get fitted for their tuxes, and make sure to remember to buy an extra child size bow tie for Tiny. As it gets closer they order the flowers and the other decorations for the ceremony and reception, pick out their cake flavors, and finalize the guest list and seating arrangement.

The week before is stressful, it’s busier than usual for Matt at work on top of having to make sure everything is going to be in place for this weekend. Charlie lets him out early on Thursday, he already had taken Friday off for the rehearsal, and even though Matt knows there’s still a lot to be done, Charlie insists, so he thanks him and goes home. Anders’ family make it into town a few days before, getting settled in the hotel, the same one the wedding is in, so Anders goes back and forth a lot to visit them and take them around the city, since most of them haven’t been to visit since his college graduation.

The rehearsal itself is stressful, too. As much as they try, Tiny just does not want to walk down the aisle, opting instead to sniff all the chairs and try to climb the fake trees. Matt’s starting to wonder if they made a mistake trusting their cat to follow instructions on such an important occasion. Jake assures them that he’ll have the cat treats tomorrow, and he’ll surely go for those, but at this moment, Matt’s not convinced. He needs to see it to believe it. 

Despite that, the rehearsal dinner is very nice. Matt and Anders make their way around to say hi to everyone, and thank them for coming, and they even get to sneak a peek at the reception room for tomorrow, which is coming together wonderfully. Matt feels like he’s on the inside of a snow globe when he steps inside, and when he says as much to Anders, he just laughs and squeezes his hand.

As they finally climb into bed after such a long day, Matt finds he doesn’t want to go to sleep at all. He looks over at Anders, who’s looking right back at him, smiling.

“What?” he asks.

“Nothing,” Anders says. “I was just thinking, tomorrow I finally get to call you my husband.”

Matt can’t resist a smile of his own. “I know. I can’t wait.” Anders leans over to kiss his nose. They stay like that for a bit, just lying down together and playing with each other’s hands, before Matt speaks up again.

“Remember when we moved in here?” he says.

“Yeah, and we didn’t have any furniture for a week because they messed up our order and never shipped it to us?” Anders laughs.

Matt snorts. “I mean, we had the bed, so at least we had somewhere to sleep, but yeah, not having a couch or table or chairs or anything was rough. But that’s not what I was talking about.” He reaches across to touch Anders’ shoulder. “Remember that first night, when we ordered dinner? And we were sitting on the floor, using a box as a table and eating directly out of the takeout containers?”

“I remember.”

“That was one of the happiest moments of my life,” Matt admits. He’s never said this out loud, he realizes, but tonight is as good a night as any. “I remember thinking, despite everything that went wrong that day, as long as I had you, everything would be okay. We’d figure it out. And we did, and we still are. We got the furniture delivered, we adopted a cat together, and now, I’m lucky enough that I get to marry you tomorrow. I love you so much.” He stops for a second, but only because he thinks he might start crying, and he doesn’t want to do that quite yet. 

Anders, on the other hand, looks like he’s already there.

“Matt, love,” he whispers, reaching up to his shoulder to grab Matt’s hand in his own. “I love you, too. So much. Every moment I get to spend with you is a gift in itself, but I think I can agree that that was one of the happiest days of my life, too. And, other than tomorrow, the only day that even compares is the day you proposed to me. When I knew I would get to spend forever with you.”

“I think you mean the day you proposed to me,” Matt jokes through the tears, but it still gets Anders to laugh.

“That, too.” He wipes a tear away from his eyes. “God, you’re making me all sappy. We’ve gotta save some of this for tomorrow!”

“Oh, believe me, there’s plenty more where these came from,” Matt says, pointing to his own tear-stained cheeks. Anders reaches up to rub his thumb right on Matt’s cheekbone.

“I love you, Matt.” 

“I love you too, Dersy.” It gets Anders to laugh, but he also shakes his head.

“I’m just gonna have to ask that you don’t call me that tomorrow. I’ll never hear the end of it from my sister if you do.”

Matt kisses the inside of his wrist. “No promises.”

—

The morning is a whirlwind, rushing around the house to make sure they have everything they need before heading off to the hotel. Matt barely remembers to give Anders a good luck kiss in the lobby before going up to his room to get ready. Anders is taking Tiny into his room with him, so at least he doesn’t have to worry about that, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. His hands are shaking so much he can barely button his shirt, and Jake has to step in and help him.

“Relax, man, you’ll be fine,” Jake assures him as he fastens the last button. 

“What if I mess up? What if I trip and fall when I walk down the aisle or something?”

“Then you’ll have a great memory to laugh at in ten years.”

“That’s not helpful right now, man.”

“Okay, let me try again. How about, that’s not what people are gonna remember about this? They’re gonna remember the trees, and the reception, and most importantly, how obvious the love you and Anders have for each other is. They’re gonna think, ‘I want a love like theirs,’ and then sigh dreamily because you guys are so disgustingly cute.”

It’s the mention of Anders that calms him down enough to realize, it doesn’t matter if things go wrong, because at the end of the day, Anders is still gonna be there for him, to wrap him up in a hug and ground him like no one else can. He takes a deep breath.

“Okay. You’re right.”

“They’re also gonna remember that your fucking cat was the ring bearer.”

Matt’s jaw drops in offense. “Oh, what, do you think you could do a better job?”

—

The ceremony itself is short and sweet. Tiny does a wonderful job, walking straight down the aisle towards Jake (well, towards the treats, anyway), and then sitting down on the pillow they set up for him, and he doesn’t even try to take off the bow tie. Matt doesn’t trip, and he doesn’t even stutter over his vows. He does cry a little, okay he cries a lot, but so does Anders, so he thinks that’s fine. They put on the rings, and when it comes time for the kiss, Anders pulls him into one of the most passionate kisses he can ever remember sharing with him. They do break apart eventually for air, but Matt just takes his hand and walks back down the aisle with him. With his _husband_. The feeling is so familiar, but so new at the same time.

The reception room is decorated beautifully. Of course, they had seen it yesterday at the rehearsal, but it’s even more magical with all the guests there, the fake trees and fake snow and the fairy lights and the gorgeous silver and teal banners hung up throughout. Matt and Anders make their way around and try to say hi to everyone before the meal is served, all the while trying to make sure Tiny doesn’t escape anywhere else in the hotel. They cut the cake together, and as tempting as it is, Matt does not shove his slice into Anders’ face, instead gently feeding it to him with the fork, and he’s happy Anders does the same for him.

When it’s time for the first dance, they walk out to the center of the dance floor hand in hand, then hold onto each other as the song starts playing. Anders sways the two of them back and forth, and Matt follows, but he feels a little awkward with all their friends and family watching. 

“It’s weird with all the people watching us,” he whispers to Anders. He catches a brief glimpse of Jake standing in the corner holding Tiny and dancing with him, and Tiny looks less than thrilled about the situation.

Anders shakes his head. “Nope, don’t worry about them. It’s just me and you right now, hubby.”

Matt playfully pushes at his shoulder, but the reminder does help him to loosen up.

_“Everything has changed since I kissed you,”_ the song continues.

Matt can’t help himself from leaning up to kiss Anders. It’s short, but when he pulls back, they both laugh softly. He spends the rest of the song alternating between trying not to cry as he looks into Anders’ eyes, his _husband’s_ eyes, and resting his head on his shoulder and finding comfort in the familiarity.

As the song is about to end, Anders leans his head down to whisper the last lyrics into Matt’s ear.

_“I hope that I have changed your whole world, too.”_

It’s those simple words that cause him to unravel completely. He squeezes Anders tighter as he cries harder, hoping it will convey all the emotions and thoughts he’s feeling even though he can’t find words. _Yes, you have changed my whole world, too, I can’t imagine my life without you in it, this is the beginning of forever and I’m so glad I get to share it with you_ , he tries to tell him silently _._

He loosens his grip eventually and looks up, and finds that Anders is crying, too. He’s smiling, but the tear stains on his cheeks give him away. Matt reaches his hand up to brush them away with his thumb.

“You have,” he finally manages to say, before leaning in for a long kiss.

—

The rest of the reception is a blast, laughing and dancing with friends and family, even getting Tiny on the dance floor by luring him with the laser pointer. The DJ plays a mix of upbeat love songs and Christmas songs, and even has a karaoke machine set up, where Jake and Charlie try and fail miserably to hit the high note in _All I Want For Christmas Is You_. Anders and his brother do a duet, which goes so well Matt has to ask if they’ve been practicing it their whole lives, but Anders just laughs and says that they haven’t. Matt’s not sure he believes him.

Eventually as the night goes on the guests start leaving, saying their goodbyes and wishing them well. They offer to help the caterers and the DJ as they pack up and head out, but everyone insists they don’t need to, so instead they go back up to their rooms to change, round up Tiny into his crate, and head home.

It’s a short drive back to their house, spent mostly in silence, but Matt can’t stop smiling the whole time. He keeps catching Anders smiling back at him from the driver's seat.

“Hey, eyes on the road, husband,” he says. Anders rolls his eyes, but does look back at the road, reaching his hand across the console instead. Matt takes it in both of his.

When they do make it home, they bring everything up from the car, and finally remember to take Tiny’s bow tie off before crashing on the couch. Matt snuggles into Anders’ side, and Anders runs his fingers through Matt’s hair, a usual occurrence in their house but this time feels extra special. It’s like nothing has changed, but of course everything has.

They don’t leave for their honeymoon tomorrow like newlyweds typically would, they opted to wait until Anders’ already scheduled winter break from school so he wouldn’t have to miss time, so they don’t have to worry about packing anything yet, they can just sit here for as long as they want and absorb every moment together as husband and husband. And when they do finally climb into bed, after they both briefly drift to sleep on the couch and have to be woken up by the other, Matt’s comforted both by Anders’ presence and by the thought that this is it, this is what they’ll have for the rest of their lives. This is the beginning of forever. He can’t wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Come follow me on Tumblr @mymidsummersunshine!


End file.
